orb

Jeez, not to question you or anything, but I have a hard time believing that. What MMA

are you referring to? What level of Systema training were those opponents? Can you give a more detailed accounting of this? Why not videotape these demonstrations and put them on Youtube?

I will only briefly try to clarify, because I don't have any interest to convince you.

The fact that you don't "believe" things that are common sense to me, make me even less interested ... but who knows maybe you do have a serious mature and practical attitude after all.

This was an experiment for myself (because I do believe that there are real IMA fighters its just that they are not the ones with websites, big martial art clubs and traditional chinese clothes). I will not put anything on youtube because it is humiliating to those styles and that's not my aim, also I have respect for some of those guys.

This was done in a few different sessions because we couldn't just get everybody together at the same time and in one place and was not always planned either.

The Aiki-do guys are aquaintances of mine and they are both instructors (One of them use to practice Taekwondo at some point also). They claimed that their teacher is so advanced that he can disappear in front of you... We never fully tested that part maybe because he never appeared in the first place...

The Taichi and Bagua practitioners belong to the same school.

Their teacher (for whom I have actually a lot of respect) was a former European Champion in Bagua.

They all move very nice and "smooth" but when they have to fight they become rigid and inefficient like old people (although their age ranged between 27 and 35).

The Systema guys were working in US during the summer - just to make some extra money (they also had some wrestling/sambo background - so actually striking was their weakest part. We did learn some good things from them and they were the hardest to deal with.

In the future If I have to do it again you are more then welcome to take part in it.(just find me the opponent).

You can see something similar in this video (somebody else posted it).

Vladimir Starov is one of the top dogs (in systema). He was also claiming after this video that he had a broken arm before the fight.(which is hard to believe...). Also you can see that he is heavier and taller then his opponent and also his opponent didn't know takedowns....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NIxULhMGZA

With the Goal in mind to test the efficiency of IMA practice as a fighting skill

I and a few friends (MMA experience 2-4 years) have personally fought Aiki-do black belts (12-16 years of practice) and Russian Systema Special forces guys (Russian Military doesn't pay them much so they are more then happy to demonstrate... We have chosen only the bigger and stronger guys. We used only punches, kicks and take-downs - they were aloud to use all their secrets (except eye poking and biting).

In the end they were all defeated with great ease (no exceptions).

We tried the same thing with guys from Bagua and Taichi.

The same thing happened to a guy from wing tsun kung fu (the best student in the school, after that his teacher got upset and became violent himself... - lack of emotional control ?)

The only style that we have not fought was xing yi (We just didn't find anybody with long enough experience).

If anybody here knows an IMA practitioner that want to test himself against MMA please let me know.

V/R,

Orb

So if anyone has read the book "Qi Dao- Tibetan Shamanic Qigong: the Art of Being in the Flow", the author, Lama Somananda Tantrapa says that his grandfather aided in teaching martial arts to the Soviet military, and some of the principles he taught can be seen in arts such as systema. I've seen a few demos and explanations like

which, while I don't understand what's being said, seems to talk about relaxed power in punching.

 

B.K. Frantzis in an article here says that he is convinced that much of Morihei Ueshiba's skill came from some sort of internal martial arts training, most likely bagua, which he might have learned from time spent in China, but due to the political atmosphere during the time he taught he was unable to give proper credit for the source of his techniques. Watching a video like

, I can almost directly see someone walking the circle, or doing a palm change.

 

Does anyone have any experience with either of these two arts? Or has anyone trained in or seen another art that also has very apparent internal principles, but is not generally talked about in terms of "internal martial arts"?

 

As always, any thoughts would be appreciated

I was wondering does anyone here practice all of the yoga kriyas? are they even still practeced in todays world? cause to me putting a tumeric root up my butt seems a little invasive. some of them i can understand like the jala neti.

 

Thanks

How about putting dead animals through your butt. isn't that invasive? Every piece of rotten food that we consume ends up there anyway. There have been cases when SHANK PRAKSHALANA or VAMANA DHAUTI saved people's lives. These are technqniques of control based on a good understanding of the human machine. So why fear them?

It's like being prejudice against oil change in your car

My primary meditation consists of following my breath. Well, anyway I was meditating and I kept having a sensation of "falling within myself" then it seemed suddenly that I was in a large place without any light with large shapes surrounding me. Is there a term, or goal in Taoism or other meditative arts that explains or mentions anything like this?

 

Thanks guys.

That is just one of the million distractions - don't get carried away by these little insignificant sensations - this is not what you want. Just keep following your breath and keep a straight spine.

Demonizing Communism is a stupid move. Communists saw real problems in society, but unfortunately, their solutions in USSR and in China were not effective.

 

For example, wealth disparity is a real problem. Countries with high wealth disparities are less happy than those with smaller wealth disparity.

 

The problem with Soviet and Chinese style communists was that they didn't understand that the problem was caused by culture, and tried to use force to fix things. Of course cultures cannot be fixed by force.

 

Also, we tend to lionize Tibetans, but Tibetans also were assholes in many ways. Even the monk admitted it when he said it is probably their own bad karma that was catching up to them.

Please tell me how were the Tibetans assholes ?

What is the name of the teacher of Alex Anatole?

There should be a rule on thetaobums - before you ask any questions - try this website www.google.com

don't even think too much, just click on the link...

Cmmon now, one would expect a slightly deeper/subtler insight from a genuine Taoist Master then just XSZ.

You can find all these "miraculaous exercises" for free on the internet and they don't even require a teacher unless you are teaching 12 year old kids and below.

IMO these issues have to be approached from three different perspectives simultaneously:

Heart

Mind

Body

Otherwise you cannot achieve the real harmony.

You can get good health and live a long life but without a properly exercised strong intelectual function and a balanced emotional side you can end up living a long but very limited and incomplete life.

This is an interesting interview with Korean Taoist Master Chung San

Hmm that's cool. What a coincidence. A friend of mine was just visiting from Korea. She calls it Sundo and she is a Zen practitioner, but this particular practice of Sundo is part of their Zen practice, they teach it at their temple and it has over 120 levels. Each level takes a few months to master(min 1 hour daily). She hasn't been sick at all in the past 5 years.

Agreed.

 

And Orb, It's easy, as a nameless, faceless member of an internet forum to assign yourself the position of an all-mighty judge.

Mr. Freeform,

I am expressing my views, just like you are expressing yours. And how is my faceless, nameless position different then yours. You want to talk to me face to face PM me and we'll talk. I talk to a lot of members on this forum directly and a lot of them are my dear friends that I respect and learn from. I don't know you so I can't judge you but I can criticise your comments if I have a different opinion. And if you can prove me wrong - more power to you. I will take it.

So I'm waiting on your P.M.

I have no problem with someone calling themselves anything. It means nothing about their attainment, or personal attributes. If it hurts anyone, it will mostly hurt them, because they have to live up to the title.

 

What people do is important to me. Lama Tantrapa has a great internet talk show, with many famous and inspiring teachers/healers being interviewed. That's at least worthy of respect. Plus, he made his book (whether it's good or bad in your opinion) free on google, so that you can judge it before buying. That's also very worthy of respect.

 

All in all, I've personally grown tired of the endless bashing on this forum. Not like I'm leaving...just saying,

 

is it doing us any good?

Just like you don't have a problem with Fake Lamas (i.e. Tantrapa and Max) I don't a problem bashing the fake lamas. Actually I think they need to be laughed at until they quit - because they are fake gurus in my opinion. A lot of knowledge is hidden and divided amongst few people in this world. Lately a lot of it came out, but it's still very difficult to obtain it because you have to find it and sometimes pay a lot of money or even risk your life to get it. And then you have the BS gurus that only have basic surface knowledge and make a business out of it.

And no, they don't have to live up to the title because you guys don't have any problems with their titles so they actually get a lot more credit then the real masters. Do you know that John Chang was so poor at one point that he didn't have anything to eat for a long time ?

While these mofos are having talkshows and call themselves lamas!!! Talk shows with whom? Michael Winn and Mantak Chia who are going to teach you how to smile like the greeters from Walmart and call it a "secret smile" ? Bruce Kumar Frantzis who is pushing nerds and women on youtube and calls it fa jin or Chunyi Lin who produces great spiritual beings like Drew here on the taobums?

I'm just sayin....

Tantrapa, who gave you the title Lama?

LMFAO !!!!!!!!!!!

I was about to ask the same thing

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I'm still LMFAO - can't even type anymoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee yuppieeee

He probably got it online ...........

Wow that was good - I don't understand how people get bored with the Taobums.

Oh sh@#

Looking forward to his answer........

Wow!!!

My head hurts.

 

In science we trust.

 

This has to be the most clear statement of science as religion as I have ever encountered.

 

Just making an observation.

 

Carry on.

 

Craig

If it wasn't for the science you wouldn't be making your observations online like you are doing right now.

Scientific studies have been conducted on contemplative experiences. IMO, it is impossible to recreate siddhis in a scientific experiment because mystic attainments are given by what the Abrahamic traditions call "God" that cannot be forced. In fact, spiritual experiences are a by-product of practice and not directly sought by the practitioner, they just happen.

 

 

Read this info:

 

http://www.noetic.org/research/medbiblio/ch1.htm

 

They discuss briefly levitation at the bottom. I have experience with it and not BS about this topic, believe me. I am not going to discuss my experience because I don't care about it, I have more important things to care and think about; however what happened to me is not a full-on levitation experience as Saint Teresa of Jesus during her ecstatic episodes because she was a monastic recluse living away from the worries of the world. So I believe that if I had a mini-episode living in stressful society with a full-time job, what would happen if I were living in an environment conducive to these types of experiences?

 

By the way, when you reach shen level your body will not deteriorate after death like other sentient beings. You have reached what is called sainthood, that is spiritual perfection.

 

 

 

Ok, we are talking different things here. I don't care about sainthood, buddhahood, samadhi, heaven or what have you. I also couldn't care less what happens to my body after I die.

 

My spiritual practice is very simple - separate from your internal imagination and pay attention to whatever is in you and outside you at the same time all the time. End of the story.

 

I don't believe in Jesus, Holly Ghost, Buddha, Allah etc. These guys never existed to me, never met them. There's also never any divine intervention in my life. I just got back from Haiti and I've carried dead bodies of inocent people, inocent children, pregnant women etc.... So any GOD with all his glory that allows a child to be born and then allows him to die for no reason - is a total retard. But that wouldn't make sense - because GOD is so awesome - so, I came to the conclusion that GOD just abandoned ship long time ago. We are left here alone in a corner of the universe.

 

So this being said, back to our amazing hidden powers.

 

I know a few people right now that can demonstrate extraordinary abilities because they practiced for 10 years or more certain exercises with the goal to obtain extraordinary abilities. Some of them can kill a bird from the distance, move an object ,like a brick, a few inches across the floor, start a fire with bear hands, cause pain in your body from the distance and also one guy can push his energy through an electric cord and power an electric device - like a lamp (I think even John Chang didn't figure that one out yet.) All these abilities have been developed because the people studied just the abilities, it's not yoga or qigong or any other asian internal practice. Has nothing to do with GOD, Allah etc.... (these guys are comunists). Also these things don't "happen" to them - they control them totally. So you can go to him and tell him to do it and put it on camera and he will do it and it can be observed and quantified etc.... There are also more then one methods.

They are not nearly as complete and perfected as a system like Mopai for example, but they produce very clear results - after a ton of practice, of course. Most of the time are like this - one guy worked on telekinesis for a decade and now he can do it, but he cannot start a fire so he finds somebody who can do that and if they can work it out then they exchange practices. It's that usually takes a while for them to find each other and then many times the negotiations fail. There is no organisation yet, also usually they ask for a lot of money.

Other then that it's just like bodybuilding, the more you practice the stronger your concentration capacity is and the better you get.

That's what I am looking for. People that can do and are willing to share their methods.

That's it.

One of the biggest problem is the vast majority of people that think they have abilities and they are afraid to test them. So they are stuck in this situation for years and years. And they never learn anything and just waste our time and consume our oxygen..........

"If you really have a skill then you should be able to demonstrate 20 times in a row involving outsiders."

 

Then I guess by this standard, olympic power lifters are fakes, because I bet not one of hem could do their max lift 20 times in a row.

 

Also, what is so great about getting the public's approval?

First of all I don't understand your comparison at all. Nobody doubts the powerlifters. We are talking about extraodinary powers that people claim they posses.

Second, this has nothing to do with just public approval either. It has to do with science. Science is either yes or no. When it is like "maybe" then it's just theory....

In Science everything can be quantified and measured, even GOD.

I strongly believe that if John Chang allowed scientists to study him for like a year - then a lot of things would be understood and the whole humanity would increase their level of knowledge. However he is linked to this other old traditions and we are never going to be able to get anything out of him. So hopefully somebody else of the few real masters will agree to do it. Until then there are going to be a whole bunch of fake masters - like most of the taobums here - who can make the claims but can never prove anything - because they are fake. That's all.

To prove something is very simple. The tests are very simple. So if you can do something - just prove it and that's it. Stop making a big deal out of it. And if you can't prove - you don't have it - so go and practice more. Simple. Easy.

I always appreciate someone telling me how I feel instead of asking me how I feel!

 

Intelligent people just don't dismiss another with snide unproven remarks!

 

Anger issues? I ask questions and you make accusations! Show me where I have expressed anger. I have been around Buddhism long before you were born. At least I have the intelligence and curiosity to question belief systems i.e, my own and others.

 

I submit that all of you Buddhists are afraid to look in the mirror and really ask if you are bullshitting yourself! At least I have the balls to laugh at my own illusions!

 

Anyone can integrate another belief system and believe it to be the absolute truth. I have accomplished that feat many times.

 

Can you Buddhists laugh at yourselves? Or are you caught in absolute seriousness?

 

ralis

Sir, It's actually obvious from all your posts that you have achieved very high levels of consciousness - unimaginable to us "pathetic buddhists with no balls scared to look at ourselves in the mirror and living lives full of bullshit". What an honour to have you on this thread to show us the TRUTH about ourselves. I mean you have never even talked to anybody around here in person, but after "years of esoteric experience" it's probably so easy for you to see even from our answers - how sad our condition is and full of illusions and lacking any objective knowledge that you obviously posess.

Initially I couldn't understand exactly the meaning of your crypted words but soon they got louder and louder in my head and I had a moment of abrupt awakening (kinda like Keanu Reves in Matrix when he wakes up in his liquid-filled chamber) and I could see my FEAR and all my Illusions surrounding me - it is truly overwelming.

But it's too late for me... for I am doomed....the fear is in my veins and in my heart !!!

So all I can tell you - "The Chosen One",

run! run now!, for your dear life and never return to this thread ever again............Ah I can't seeeee....I can't think straight.....I can't even write anymore ....... the the thefear ....the the buddhist illusions they are comming back................ I can hear them...........................

Dammit...................................................................................

they are everywhere....................................................................................................................................................................................................................OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG

OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG

OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG

OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG

OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG OM MANI PADME HUNG

I used to like Buddhism until VERY recently. As I looked deeper into it, I realized it is just like any other organized religion, based on fear.

Fear of what will happen to us IN THE NEXT LIFE if we don't do such and such or repeat this mantra in a foreign tongue.

Hell realms, hungry ghost realms etc etc. Eons trapped in horrible existences. What if these realms don't exist.

What a waste it would be to deny ourselves living fully IN THIS LIFE.

This is not to mean living recklessly without concern for the planet and it's inhabitants. We can still lead morally good and compassionate lives without adhering to precepts, commandments and blind guru worship.

Most of us know what is the correct way to conduct ourselves and of the consequences when we don't.

We reap what we sow.

I can understand that buddhism is not a good path for you, but to critisize the entire buddhist community in one little post is very silly of you. At the same time you've touched quite a few major topics in one little post - It's amazing.

A couple of days ago I have asked one of our Sangha's Lamas about highly attained people that he had met - I was really hoping that he would tell me about some great yogis in Tibet that I know he had seen before, but to my surprise he never mentioned any of them. He told me that he met a lot of very highly attained people that don't even follow a religion. They just understand life very well and that is enough. One criteria that he mentioned was "...They have a good heart and they are genuinely humble". The same he said about some christian missionaries that went to India to preach their religion and he went to attend their lectures. He said that their teachings were very similar to his own tibetan dharma teachings and that he couldn't agree more with what they were saying.

So again I totally understand that the buddhist approach doesn't work for you but it works for millions of people. A lot of people are just born into it. It's transmitted from generation to generation by their parents just like any other moral or cultural value. It's like children in US go to a baseball game with their parents.

It's a way of life. And buddhists "fully enjoy their lives".

Now, many things happen when people look at buddhism with an intelectual western mind point of view.....

Dalai Lama said clearly - people shouldn't convert to another religion. You should stick to your own religion and it would be nice to at least not bash other people's path if you cannot respect it.

From another point of view - there are thousands of branches of buddhism. Some buddhists believe in things - others don't believe in anything. Some buddhists say mantras, others never say any mantras. There are bad buddhists, good buddhists, buddhists that eat meat and buddhists that don't eat meat. Who am I to judge them.

"Fear of next life" - I never even think of the next life. I don't think there's such a thing as a next life. I actually don't even believe in reincarnation. Hell, I don't even believe that most of the religious deities ever existed. A true buddhist doesn't believe in anything. Because that's what Buddha said. And buddhists follow Buddha's teachings otherwise they wouldn't be called "buddhists". As a buddhist you have to verify everything for yourself. As for Buddha himself, he is dead, so he can't help anybody.

However you, my friend, you did exactly what buddha said. You verified that buddhism doesn't work for you. Wonderfull, that was very smart of you. That is buddhism. It's about your "SELF". The end of the story.

The "SELF" is very simple. You don't have to label it "buddhism" - you can call it whatever you want.

It's just a room with a door.

But you didn't want to open the door. Maybe it's too simple for you. Or maybe you kept looking in the wrong direction, further, past that door, at the mantras - or at the next life....Maybe you need more complications. Or maybe better stories or smth, who knows?

You just don't want to be simple like Buddha.

So you became critical of millions of people in one second...Oh well....

I used to like Buddhism until VERY recently. As I looked deeper into it, I realized it is just like any other organized religion, based on fear.

Fear of what will happen to us IN THE NEXT LIFE if we don't do such and such or repeat this mantra in a foreign tongue.

Hell realms, hungry ghost realms etc etc. Eons trapped in horrible existences. What if these realms don't exist.

What a waste it would be to deny ourselves living fully IN THIS LIFE.

This is not to mean living recklessly without concern for the planet and it's inhabitants. We can still lead morally good and compassionate lives without adhering to precepts, commandments and blind guru worship.

Most of us know what is the correct way to conduct ourselves and of the consequences when we don't.

We reap what we sow.

I don't know whether it's possible to stop associative thinking. But I don't even understand how it's possible to think - I mean according to the physics of the brain it should simply follow the stimuli received from the environment, and it should give a specific response according to the current state of the neural net. However, it very much looks like our thoughts can be controlled via something we call free will. It might turn out that our free will, our dilemmas we face before a decision, this little "tennis match" we play inside our heads, this can also be part of the strict process, since it can always end up in only one result. That we only feel that we have free will but we don't actually have a choice, is a possibility. Of course it's also possible that we have free will. But then how does it work? No physical, biological, neurological or any kind of laws can determine it. And thus we can't determine how we think. The source of this very thinking process, which is guided by our will, or our awareness, is unknown. It is the realm of spirituality, which is mostly guessing, hypotheses, and reliance on other people's words.

So I don't know whether it's possible to stop associative thinking. But I think that it doesn't matter - we don't need to. We don't need to stop it because it's not the associative thought that makes up the problem, but the emotion bounded to that thought. The problem is that when you face something with a certain strong emotion, then together with the memory of that something, the very emotion is also stored in your neurons. And every time you think of that thing, you also feel something of that emotion. So even when years have passed since that event, whenever you think of something in association with that event, you trigger the same emotion. However, it is possible to overwrite that emotion with others - this is how psychotherapy works. This proves that it's possible to get rid of the emotions attached to the associative thoughts, or any kinds of thoughts for that matter, and thus get rid of the unwanted habits driven by our undesired emotions. But you don't need to lose associative thinking for this. In fact, your personal associations are part of your personality, I don't think you should lose them, even if you can.

Very nice explanation sir. Everything that you have described I have verified for myself as well. I was suprised to see that you also have mentioned the interference between the associations and the emotinal side. To me the emotional aspect is like a gas pedal. It can accelerate the thought or slow it down - depending on how much emotional fuel is being provided. And the negative emotion is able to act as a short.

It is very interesting that in most forums about the side-effects or negative consequences of meditation nobody tells a word about the brain. So here I come to tell you some things.

 

Great topic there sir. Thank you.

This is one of those topics where it would be really nice if people spoke from their own experience rather then relate what they read, or whatever so and so said about the subject.

Although I find you post very interesting I need to ask you one think. From your experience do you really believe that a person can completely stop all the asociations ? And if yes why do you think we would need that. Also please if you could use your own words and descriptions rather then terms like "samadhi" I would really appreciate it.

Thanks.

Orb

This doctor i've been seeing here in Tianjin... he is amazing.

 

I met a tibetan doctor in US and he checked my urine and also my pulse on both hands in a that looked like he was playing the pipe with his fingers. After 5 min of checking my pulse he was able to give me an exact diagnosis like the traditional american doctors plus some extra details and explanations that helped a lot. I need to mention that the regular doctors withdrew a lot of blood and I had to wait for 2 weeks for the results to come back from the lab, while the tibetan doctor told me all that and more after only 10 min without using any machines or chemsitry etc.....

http://www.alchemylab.com/golden_flower.htm

https://www.atlantic-university.org/free_intro_courses/IS535/pdf/Secret_of_the_Golden_Flower.pdf

 

Which translation is best and why?

Good topic, Sir. Thanks

 

People ask me all the time "how can I do what you do?"

 

What exactly can you do ?